Decorative panel assembly

ABSTRACT

A flexible decorative panel assembly having front and rear members joined together in co-planar relationship. Both members have flaps located over apertures formed in their surfaces. The flaps of the rearward member protrude through the apertures in the front member. The apertures in each member are offset from the apertures in the other member, and the flaps hide the apertures from sight to give a decorative shingle effect to the front surface of the assembly.

United States Patent Giannone, Sr.

[ 51 Mar. 21, 1972 DECORATIVE PANEL ASSEMBLY Anthony J. Giannone, Sn, Route 2, PO. Box 240, Saugerties, NY. 12477 Filed: June 5, 1970 Appl. No.: 43,906

Inventor:

U.S.Cl ..16l/l11,161/112, 161/130, 161/145 Int. Cl ..B32b 3/10 FieldofSearch ..l61/109,1l0,41,112,113, l61/7,114,115,111,130,l45;229/3.5;24/l7 A,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1956 Kelly ..229/77 3,019,957 2/1962 Palmer.... ..229/39 X 3,106,240 10/1963 Weber ...l60/236 X 3,202,340 8/1965 Johnston. .....229/39 X 3,508,699 4/1970 Graser ..229/40 Primary ExaminerWillard E. Hoag Attorney-Edward Halle [5 7] ABSTRACT A flexible decorative panel assembly having front and rear members joined together in co-planar relationship. Both members have flaps located over apertures formed in their surfaces. The flaps of the rearward member protrude through the apertures in the front member. The apertures in each member are offset from the apertures in the other member, and the flaps hide the apertures from sight to give a decorative shingle effect to the front surface of the assembly.

3 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEDMARZI 1972 w w m ANTHONY J, GIANNONE,SR.

2M4 NW A TTORNE Y DECORATIVE PANEL ASSEMBLY The present invention is a decorative panel assembly which is formed from two planar members. The members may be flexible so that the formed assembly can be bent so as to be in proper shape for joining to objects having curved surfaces such as the heel or tongue portions of shoes. The assembly comprises a rear male member having flaps formed therein and a front female member. If desired, the front member may have decorative flap means formed thereon. The flaps formed on the male member fit through apertures in the female member and at least partially hide the apertures. The flap means form a decorative shingle effect when the assembly is viewed from the front.

It is an object of this invention to provide a decorative panel assembly.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a decorative panel assembly which is easily formed from a female and male member.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide a decorative panel assembly which is adapted to be placed on curved or irregularly formed surfaces.

These and other objects not specifically referred to herein will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the specification and claims or upon use of the invention in practice.

A preferred embodiment has been chosen for purposes of illustration and is shown in the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the decorative panel assembly when placed on a shoe heel;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the panel assembly;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the front and rear members of the assembly prior to beingjoined together;

FIG. 4 is a plan view partially cut away showing the assembly;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the assembly taken along line 5-5 ofFlG.4; and

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view of the assembly when affixed to a curved object such as a shoe heel.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The panel assembly 10 shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 6 is formed from a flexible planar front female member 12 and a flexible planar rear male member 14. Each of the members has a plurality of aperture and flap means 18 formed on its surface. The flaps are preferably placed in each member by forming a series of cuts of nearly closed geometrical shape in the surface of the member. Any desired figure can be chosen. Applicant has chosen to show the flaps as almost complete circles, but other shapes such as square, triangular, starlike and so forth can be used.

In order to form the panel assembly 10, the flap means in the rear member 20 are inserted through the apertures 22 in the front member as best seen in FIGS. 4 and 5. In order to assure a secure anchor between the two panels, at least some of the uppermost flaps 20 on the rear member 14 can be inserted through aperture means 24 in the from member 12 which are substantially smaller than the other front members apertures 22. These anchoring apertures 24 may be closed geometric openings having no associated flap means. The apertures 22 in the front member l2 and 26 in the rear member 14 are offset from one another when in the completed assembly 10. Thus, the rear flap means 20 and the front flap means 30 will also be offset from one another so as to give a shingle type effect as seen in FIGS. 1, 2, 4 and 5. The upper portions 32 of the flaps 20 of the rear member 14 which are near the point of attachment of the flap 20 to the rear member 14 rest upon the low edge 34 of an associated aperture 22 formed in the from member 12. Lower portions 36 of some of the flap means rest upon and partially cover the underneath upper portions 38 of other flap means as seen in FIGS. 4 and 5. The result is a decorative panel assembly 10 comprising an exterior 40 having flaps in a shingled array. Such an assembly may be readily affixed to any one of many objects to give a pleasing decorative effect. I

The lnvention can provide a decorative outer panel for handbags, furniture, hats, walls, window displays, wearing apparrel of all sorts, and other things, and has an infinite variety of uses for decorative purposes. The assembly of the invention may be prepared as piece goods and sold by the yard. It is flexible and can be adapted to various contours of solid objects as well as to sheets of flexible material.

As various changes may be made in the form and arrangement of the various parts of this invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to be understood that all matter herein is illustrative only and is not intended to be taken in a limiting sense.

Wherefore I claim:

1. A decorative panel assembly having plural integral flaps arranged in parallel rows and extending from one side of the assembly in shingled array, said assembly comprising a first sheet and a second sheet joined together coextensively, each of said flaps corresponding to an aperture in one of said sheets and being attached to said one of said sheets at the edge of said aperture, corresponding apertures of the two sheets being adjacent to each other without being coincident, the flaps of said second sheet protruding through corresponding apertures of said first sheet so that a portion of each of said flaps rests upon the edge of the corresponding aperture of said first sheet and having a flap of said second sheet overlapping at least to some extent the corresponding flap of said first sheet.

2. An assembly as claimed in claim 1, in which said first sheet comprises aperture means on its upper portion that are smaller than the other aperture means formed therein.

3. An assembly as claimed in claim 1, in which the flaps in each sheet has a shape which conforms to the shape of the apertures. 

1. A decorative panel assembly having plural integral flaps arranged in parallel rows and extending from one side of the assembly in shingled array, said assembly comprising a first sheet and a second sheet joined together coextensively, each of said flaps corresponding to an aperture in one of said sheets and being attached to said one of said sheets at the edge of said aperture, corresponding apertures of the two sheets being adjacent to each other without being coincident, the flaps of said second sheet protruding through corresponding apertures of said first sheet so that a portion of each of said flaps rests upon the edge of the corresponding aperture of said first sheet and having a flap of said second sheet overlapping at least to some extent the corresponding flap of said first sheet.
 2. An assembly as claimed in claim 1, in which said first sheet comprises aperture means on its upper portion that are smaller than the other aperture means formed therein.
 3. An assembly as claimed in claim 1, in which the flaps in each sheet has a shape which conforms to the shape of the apertures. 